By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
A Thursday night home win over Lincoln gave the Washburn women’s basketball team a brief reprieve from a seven-game losing streak. But the Ichabods couldn’t string together a second win Saturday, losing 69-56 at home to Central Missouri State.
Senior Aubrey Dewey led Washburn with 14 points in Saturday's 69-56 home MIAA loss to Central Missouri State. [File photo/TSN]
The loss dropped Washburn to 7-13 in the MIAA and 12-14 overall.
“Winning is that magic drug that cures a lot,” Washburn coach Lora Westling said. “We had good practices coming off that. But this league is pretty unforgiving.”
The Ichabods were plagued by turnovers and struggled to get much offense going in the first 15 minutes. Their slow start permitted the Jennies to establish a double-digit advantage in the second period.
But Washburn came rushing back late in the period with a seven-point run, closing the gap to 30-27 at halftime.
Gabi Giovannetti help keep the Ichabods within striking distance with 12 first-half points. The sophomore connected on five of six attempts in the first half, including two 3-pointers.
The Ichabods clawed all the way back to take the lead, briefly, late in the third period, 43-42. But the fourth period saw the Jennies heat up, while Washburn turned cold.
“I thought we had some good moments and good quarters,” Westling said. “We just turned the ball over too many times. If you give a good team that many extra possessions, they’re going to make you pay for it. And that happened tonight.”
The Ichabods were torched for 29 points by Central Missouri senior Brooke Littrell. But Westling didn’t find a lot of fault with the Ichabod defensive effort. Instead, she pointed to the Jennies’ 18 offensive rebounds, 10 more than Washburn collected.
“She’s (the defending MIAA) Player of the Year. She’s an all-American,” Westling said of Littrell. “She’s mature. She’s a senior. I thought overall we defended pretty well. We should have a chance to win a game where we keep everyone else in single digits. We just couldn’t get over the hump on those offensive boards giving them extra possessions.”
Washburn was led by Aubrey Dewey with 14 points. Giovannetti went scoreless in the second half to finish with 12.
With just two regular-season games remaining, the Ichabods must try to get moving in a positive direction before the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City March 6-10.
“We really don’t have a choice,” Westling said. “We’re really big on truth in our program. We expect winning attitudes. We expect winning habits. So we’re going to be disappointed when we lose, but they’re going to show up on Monday and get better.
“I don’t have any quitters in there. They’re great young women and they’re going to compete hard.”
CENTRAL MISSOURI WOMEN 69, WASHBURN 56
Central Missouri 16 14 16 23 -- 69
Washburn 12 15 19 10 -- 56
Central Missouri (19-7, 13-7) – Littrell 11-16 7-8 29, Tull 2-8 3-6 7, Nelson 4-13 1-2 9, Frost 1-6 1-2 3, Vigil 0-4 0-0 0, Holden 2-4 2-2 6, Clevenger 305 0-0 9, Karlin 2-3 0-0 5, Smith 0-4 1-2 1, Blake 0-1 0-0 0, Bovaird 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-64 15-22 69.
Washburn (12-14, 7-13) – Nwidadah 3-5 2-7 8, Dewey 5-9 4-4 14, Giovannetti 5-9 0-0 12, Schieferecke 0-1 0-0 0, Davison 1-6 3-5 4, McKenzie 0-2 0-0 0, Gamble 3-8 0-0 8, Boyd 1-3 1-2 3, Wayne 0-3 0-0 0, Amekporfor 1-2 4-4 6. Totals: 19-48 14-21 56.
3-point goals — Central Missouri 4-14 (Clevenger 3-4, Karlin 1-1, Littrell 0-3, Nelson 0-2, Frost 0-1 Blake 0-1); Washburn 4-16 (Gamble 2-6, Giovannetti 2-5, Dewey 0-3, Wayne 0-2). Rebounds — Central Missouri 37 (Tull 10); Washburn 32 (Dewey 7). Assists — Central Missouri 15 (Frost 6); Washburn 9 (Dewey 4). Turnovers — Central Missouri 12; Washburn 24. Fouled out — None. Attendance — 1,148.
